The sparks of desire burn in all blogger’s heads and hearts. When we start out, we have thoughts piled up in our heads, every word delicately stacked just ready to burst into the one (or every) blog post that will go viral. And then it smolders…
Before it takes off, we realize we have to start somewhere. We start by embracing our sparks of desire. And give it some gas…(oh, my…I’m really reaching here to make the photos work with my words…!)
And then we wait for it to take off and something else happens.
Right before things really take off. We encounter obstacles in our way.
It’s easy to fall prey to the ‘it’s simple’ promises stacked before us. I did just that when I wrote these two blog posts about how I overcame them.
- A blog in 10 minutes, I don’t think so. Written a month after I purchased my domain and theme and all that fluffy stuff accompanying a WordPress blog that isn’t a free one.
- That wasn’t it, I wasn’t ready yet. It still took me longer to launch. I had to figure out the theme, the dreaded About Me page (which I’ve rewritten several times), the menus, WordPress.org versus WordPress.com, Bluehost, JetPack, etc…and all I really wanted to do was write posts. So it took quite a while to get to the launch point. Oh yeah, I had a computer crash in the middle of that time, too. Then I wrote another post called A blog in 10 minutes, I still don’t think so 20 days later in honor of my birthday to overcome the fear of getting the
damnthing to go live. Yes, my first rendition of this blog had a different name, and a different focus – going gray and going lighter as I was getting rid of stuff in my empty nest.
At the base of the obstacles were my fears.
As I reflect now, it was scary to start, it was scary to push the launch button. 
And my world didn’t crash. Those fears formed a desire to embrace the heat of embarrassment of not knowing what the hell I was doing.
That step sparked the flames of my desire to keep going live with my blog. I clicked launch and sighed in relief of overcoming the ringing in my ears of Just Do It…Just Do It…! And I watched, and waited for the smoke to clear.
I don’t know if anyone ever read the post. (Until now, because I put screenshots of it here for you – made it easy for you to see it…)
And then the next year, I decided to change the name of my blog. The embers of my love for blogging were heated up by the epic failures of not having any followers or likes or comments.
I bought a new domain and changed my About Me page again. Don’t we always assume it is us that is the problem? Our fears burn hot when things don’t go the way we expected them to.
That process was even scarier…I was afraid that I would lose all my previous efforts. I wrote about my fears in my 200th post. The thing I didn’t know was that I had my Discussion Settings wrong in WordPress for a very long time. Once I figured that out, I could finally hear from people!
I just knew it, somewhere on the horizon, there had to be people who’d want to read my posts?? Thank goodness for my hubby and my daughters and a few friends – they were my faithful readers and supporters. Oh, and I, of course, loved every post I wrote. But I still felt there was something missing.
I dug down, down, down deep into my desires and set out on a mission to meet bloggers by commenting and liking their posts and I started following them. And I joined in on some challenges or word prompts. I still miss the Daily WordPress prompts. But those efforts I took finally helped…it was exhilarating to finally have the opportunity to interact with other bloggers.
My desires to learn more about how this whole blogging world works still burn bright…
Post Inspiration thanks to Linda Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Earworm, Word of the Day – Exhilarating and #MyBlogMyWritingStyle 30 Day Blogging Challenge (click here for the rules – you can start anytime). Today’s word is Obstacles and the question of the day is “What obstacles have you overcome since starting blogging?”
PS – What sparks your desires to blog or write or take photos? Are you like me and mesmerized by bonfires? What are your tips for getting great photos of fire burning? Do you know that June Carter Cash wrote that song for Johnny in 1963? How do you get rid of earworms…I’ve had that song stuck in my head since we lit the fire last night…?!
I think I went through all the beginning stages of setting up my blog, as you talk about here. Ten minutes…hahaha, nope…took way longer than that! There’s still a lot I don’t know, but really, all I wanted to do was write posts, so I got tired of fiddling with everything and just started.
Great photos of the fire!
I’m glad to hear I wasn’t the only one that took longer than 10 minutes to get going! That is the key – just get started, and the bugs (earworms like your post last May!) work their way out! Thanks for the feedback on the fire photos :-)! Happy Saturday to you!
Did you know Preparation H wanted to license “Ring Of Fire” for its commercials, and was turned down?
I blogged a couple of times on Blogger, and was so disgusted with them I deleted them without backing them up. What that taught me was that I really didn’t like that platform (the “no pingbacks” thing really chapped my backside), and besides, all the cool kids were on WordPress. When I started my WordPress blog, I kept it private at first, more as a way to practice doing it and to see if I really had it in me to blog again.
I had envisioned myself as an aspiring fiction writer, and was reading on all kinds of websites that offer free advice for aspiring fiction writers that if you want to sell books, ya just had to have a blog and a social media presence. Dutifully, I started the blog, which is about the time I stopped writing fiction. Undaunted, I continued thinking of myself as a fiction writer until my being a fiction writer was the only real fiction. I realized that the kind of writing I like to do is, well, blogging. So I threw my lot in with that…
I did not know that about the ring of fire for the big PH! Wow! I didn’t care much for Blogger either, but I didn’t know there was anything else at the time. You’ve done research and you’ve found your place in the writing world, I’m impressed and inspired by you! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!
Didn’t know about discussion setting. Thanks. When do we eat, looks like the fire is ready for hotdogs and s’mores. Oh and because I was an art major and studied the human body, you can really tell that Mr. is a runner. His legs muscles would be a good subject for sculpting. Not trying to be personal, some training never leaves you. Glad you are both healthy enough to enjoy something you love.
Yes, check out the discussion settings! LOL – we didn’t even eat anything by the fire, we started it after we ate dinner. That’s awesome that you were an art major and studied the human body. Yes, he runs, he walks, he’s always on the go. It’s so funny you say his legs would be a good sculpting subject – the other day we were walking and our neighbor who also walks snuck up behind us and said, “I was looking at your legs, man, they are as ugly as mine – you can tell we work out a lot.” Mr. wasn’t sure to be happy or offended! He’ll get a kick out of your comment! We’re running and this summer with my rib injury, we’ve gone back to the walking mode. It has been a pleasant surprise and we’re not sure if we’ll run again or not!
So much easier on the knees and joints
So true!
I’m glad you (we) persevered through the fear, crashes and all. I laughed at the part about if you press the launch button, the blog will break. You’ve got a nice warm fire going!
Thank you, JoAnna, I’m glad the post sparked a laugh for your day! 🙂
This makes me think about how I have regrets about self hosting my blog. I really had no idea what I was doing when I started out with it, and I should have just let WordPress host it. I have run into so many problems that I have to work really hard to figure out solutions to
I admit, I started my blog on a bit of a whim–and really didn’t know what I was doing. Sounds like you were much better prepared! Through the whole process, I’ve learned so much–not just about blogging but about connecting! Great post–and love those pics.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Rebecca! I certainly don’t feel I was prepared, but with persistence and not giving up, I have learned a few things. The connecting is one of the best parts like you said! Glad you enjoyed the post and the pictures :-)!